Official MLBlog of the Kansas City Royals front office.

Draft press conference summary

The 2011 First-Year Rule 4 Player Draft wrapped up today, with the Royals selecting 50 players over three days. Assistant General Manager for Scouting/Player Development J.J. Picollo and Scouting Director Lonnie Goldberg met with media members after the draft. Here are a few notes from the press conference:
Picollo said that the Royals selected 10 players who participated in a recent pre-draft workout at Kauffman Stadium. He said that the Royals selected several young projectable pitchers and high ceiling players. It will be five to seven years before an overall evaluation of this draft is known.

If it were up to Picollo, the signing deadline would be tomorrow. He wants to get players into the KC system right away, noting that a draftee could get 200 at-bats or 60.0 innings.

Goldberg mentioned that pitching was the strength of the draft. The Royals also looked at up the middle talent. The club selected six right-handed power hitters and nine speed players. Of the five speedsters that Goldberg mentioned, he listed Terrance Gore, KC’s 20th round selection, as the fastest.

When asked about catcher Cameron Gallagher, KC’s second round pick, Goldberg said that Gallagher was someone that the Royals had targeted. He was pleased that the high school player was available. Gallagher is a power hitter with great intangibles.

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